Photo credit: Erin McCluskey

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Asha Swann  00:01

On this episode of Toronto's Artery, I spoke with Erin McCluskey. If you're a journalism fan like me, then you may recognize her illustrations in publications like Briarpatch Magazine, The Walrus, The Atlantic and THIS Magazine, and many more. We spoke about her mural on the outside of the Articulations art store, and what it means to be an artist.

 

Asha Swann  00:27

I remember the first time I walked through Kensington Market, and I was like, "Whoa!" Just like, seeing all the art everywhere. It was just so mind-boggling to me.

 

Erin McCluskey  00:36

Yeah, I would say that I didn't know of any artists who were working growing up in Ottawa, unless they were a professor as well. I don't think I met anyone who was getting by as an artist.

 

Asha Swann  00:49

There's definitely a lot of artists everywhere here, which I, which I really do like. What has been your favourite outdoor project to work on so far?

 

Erin McCluskey  00:58

That's so hard. Do I have to pick one?

 

Asha Swann  01:01

Or maybe if you have like a top like, a top three or five? Or just like a couple of favourites, that's okay.

 

Erin McCluskey  01:08

Well, I think for me, the most important one to me was the Women Paint, because that was my—that one was really my first mural, and it was on a garage, and it was big. And it was just all women-identifying artists, and I really did grow up thinking that street art was like, mostly male-dominated. And, you know, working that project really changed my mind. I thought, "Oh, wow, you know, can I be a part of this? Is this something that I can do?" And it was just such a great experience; you met so many artists, and everyone was really supportive and helpful, and like knowledgeable and willing to share. People say even now, like the biggest street art projects, they'll go to men, mostly, but I really think you know, at least on the ground level, it's really changing in Toronto.

 

Asha Swann  01:54

What was your experience like doing the Bell Box murals?

 

Erin McCluskey  01:58

You know, it's fun just to design for different surfaces and objects. What's fun about the Bell boxes, is that they're all kinds of different shapes. So you'll have a strange box protrusion on one side, or it's very long, and you know, some of them are low to the ground, so you have to think about designing the top of them. Or if there's a condo, you kind of want something on the top for people to see. And then you know, you're in different neighbourhoods as well. So you can think about, you know, "What do I want to make for this neighbourhood?"

 

Asha Swann  02:24

What kind of impact do you think that public art or street art in general has on a community?

 

Erin McCluskey  02:30

I think it has a lot of impact. You know, I think about—I grew up in the suburbs of Ottawa, in Orleans. You know, I can't think of seeing a mural, other than in school, maybe. So it just kind of didn't really exist. You know, I see a lot of children come by while I'm painting murals, and they always try and get their parents to stop. And they're like, "Oh, what's going on here?" And I think that really must impact them to see that, you know, there are people making art, that it's something that people do, and you could probably do it too—maybe, if you wanted to.

 

And, you know, there are people that this is their job—because I do get asked a lot, you know, if I'm doing the first school project. Because people didn't think that this was a job, you know, they thought it was something that I'm doing for free, like, in my free time. Maybe you were not exposed enough to, you know, working artists in our society and can't imagine that yeah, someone's doing this for work, and they're getting paid for it. And it's a real job.